The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
Some shock absorbing devices are known in the art, especially shock absorbing devices used in shoes. For example, Adidas makes a shoe called the Springblade™ Drive M Running shoe. That shoe is made up of a plurality of cantilevered beam springs. As another example, Z-Coil makes a spring-loaded shoe that has coil springs disposed in the heel portion of the shoe. Yet another example is the company Spira has created a shoe using what it calls WaveSpring® technology. Spira shoes often have one spring disposed in the heel portion of the shoe and two other springs disposed in the forefoot portion of the shoe.
All publications identified herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
While the prior art devices provide some advantages for absorbing shock, the prior art fails to provide a shock absorption configuration that utilizes the unique load-deflection characteristics of a canted coil spring. For a description of the load-deflection characteristics of canted coil springs, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,468,527, 4,876,781, 4,893,795, 4,974,821, EP0469489, EP0491258, EP0890758.
Thus, there is still a need for improved shock absorption devices and methods.